Heroes And Cons.
The sequel of Lullaby. I hope everyone enjoys it! Ever since Nico left, Hero has had a painful heartache. Her emotions are mixed up and swirling inside her oddly. Will he come back in time to save her? Hur hur... I decided to add in the Great Prophecy. Hurr hurr... Sorry if you feel like I stole your idea, Leafy. If you're wondering why I'm editing it so much, I have nothing better to do. XD Vlaew, pronounced, V-lie-oo. PG-13. YAY! Sequel coming up will be called Seas Of Memory. I Thank Leafy for the name! ILY Ava! TATN / Thalia! 05:38, January 28, 2010 (UTC) Chapter One. A week had passed since Nico left me. I couldn't be mad at him. He was too handsome. I could still feel his fingertips tracing patterns on my skin. I could still see the sweet sadness clouding his eyes. It was all a clever trick. My heart had a familiar ache to it. I had felt before when my early high school crush punched me in the stomach. I had never liked seeing Nico unhappy and never wanted to. Didn't he want the same for me? We'd never gotten to boyfriend and girlfriend. Just almost lovers. They always brought the worst case of heartache. Why hadn't I seen this before and never tried for him? Right. Because I have ADD. I was going to celebrate my birthday in two months. Camp was over and Libena and I went home to Julia, Mason, and Andrea. Dad was going to be happy to see us. I think. Home was nice. The carpet felt softer than normal. Mason, who was only thirteen, was Andrea's child for sure. He had a girlfriend now. Her name was Hanna. She was pretty. Better than me. Of course she was prettier than me. I was terrible looking. Julia had decided to come back home. She and Hanna became best friends and she got to stay in Julia's room. Not that I cared. I had Libena to share with. Libena was a good kid. School went on. I was in grade ten now. I didn't have a favourite subject, I loved them all. I made a new friend, a mortal. Her name was Chloë. She had tanned skin and dark hair. I couldn't tell if it was dyed blue, black, or really dark brown. Her eyes were a sickly shade of green, contrasting highly with her skin and hair. "Hey, are you all right?" Chloë asked me as I walked to my locker. "Yeah, why?" I flipped my hair over my shoulder. "You look sad. And scared?" "Ohhhh... No reason." I had been seeing stalking me around town. This was normal but there was more than usual. Chloë gave me a look of disbelief. I gave her a feeble smile. I swapped my books and headed off to Math. It was dividing decimals and fractions again. There was review then a lesson. Then we worked. I had a really hard time. What with dyslexia, I kept getting the denominator and numerator mixed up. When I finally got home, my dad and Andrea weren't home. Mason and his girlfriend were in his room. If you know what I'm talking about. I drowned them out on my iPod. It blared some old Greenday and old Avril Lavigne. Then any other songs I had. Soon, Libena ran into our room and jumped up onto my bed next to me. "Hero! I lost a tooth at school today!" Libena squealed. Usually it would be something about monsters but we had to try to act normal for Mason, Hanna, and Andrea. "Cool!" I told her, feigning surprise. "Do you have any homework?" "Yeah. More language arts, Math, and history." "Well, do you want any help with it?" "Just the history and Math. The L.A is really easy. All I have to do is read a chapter of 'Because Of Winn-Dixie' and write about it." Libena was on multiplication in Math. She was having some trouble. I taught her how to remember certain ones. She got through it quickly. Her history was about Greece's history. Funny and ironic. I gave her one of my old Greece books and she slowly made it through. After about two hours, she was finished her homework. Andrea and dad came home. Andrea cooked for us. She made chicken and rice. It was okay. Not my favourite, but it did. I called Chloë after dinner. She asked me for boy advice since I'd told her about Nico. I gave her the best I had but Nico had mostly come onto me. She thanked me and hung up. I did my homework. So far, I'd gotten less pain and less accidents without Nico. Maybe being without him was for the better. Chapter Two. That night, just as I came out of the shower and got my pyjamas on, the misty fog from the heat swirled around. I tossed a golden Drachma in the fog. Nico's image appeared in front of me. I gasped. "Nico!" I sighed. "Hey Hero. How're things?" Nico asked me, a grin forming on his face. "G-good. You?" "Training's been difficult but I'm all right. Do you have any school friends?" "Yeah. Her name's Chloë. She's really nice. If you come up to Earth again, you should meet her." "I hope to. I'm asking my dad if I can get Christmas off. And... see you." "I hope you can. My fourteenth birthday is in a month. If you could somehow escape for a day." "I miss you." "I miss you more." We conversed quietly. I said goodbye and hung up. Or hung up as best you can on an Iris-Message. I brushed my hair and teeth and went to bed. Libena was already fast asleep. I crawled into my bed and dozed off. I had a terrible dream. It was Nico. He was battling skeleton warriors. His Stygian iron sword glinted in the soft torchlight. He parried, guarded, stabbed, and swung. His brown was dripping with sweat. He looked a lot older in Greek armour. His helmet was lying on the floor, being crushed by feet. The plume looked like it had once been beautiful. It was an inky colour with blood red tips. One skeleton warrior was coming up from behind. I tried to call out but couldn't. The warrior jumped on his back and stabbed his back. He froze up and screamed. I really hoped the warrior hadn't gotten his spine and sent him into paralysis. But Nico fell to the ground in pain. Hades materialized feet from him. He glared down at his son and snapped his fingers. The skeletons disappeared. Nico made weird moaning, breathing sounds. Hades lifted Nico. He was limp. His eyes darting around, the only things moving. Suddenly, I awoke, dripping with cold sweat. My alarm was going off. I groggily got out of bed and got dressed. I slumped away to the kitchen. Dad was kissing Andrea on the cheek, he was heading off to work. I made myself a bowl of apple and cinnamon oatmeal. I put two pinches of brown sugar in it and a dollop of milk in it. The warmth was nice. I ate it quickly. Mason came out of his room. I cleaned my dishes. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and hair. I got ready for school and headed off. The bitter autumn cold gnawed at my cheeks and nose. They felt freezing cold. I got to school in good time. I waited near my locker and listened to my iPod. After ten minutes, Chloë came running at me, looking terrified. I was about to ask her what was wrong, when I saw an empousa chasing after her, hissing. Chapter Three. Now, most of the time, The Mist would've clouded my friend's sight. But Chloë looked terrified. I opened my locker and then got into the secret hatch I kept for my sword. Chloë gaped at the Celestial bronze. I ran in front of the empousa. She hissed and bared her fangs. I held my ground. She had a knife with her. I got her down easily. She was terrible with her knife. I turned toward Chloë. She looked pale. Suddenly, she closed her eyes and sighed. "What the hell was that thing?" Chloë demanded. "Uhh..." I decided I should be straight with her. "A monster, an empousa." "And who are you? Why do you have a sword!?" "I am a demigoddess. Part divine force and part mortal. My father is really my father but Athena is my mother. Libena is also a demigoddess daughter of Athena." "Wow. That explains a lot." I grinned stupidly. Chloë grinned at me as the bell rang. After school, I invited Chloë to my house. She came over and I told her all about monsters and who I was. She finally understood and asked why she could see the monsters. I told her about The Mist and her ability to see through it. Finally, everyone got home and Libena came into the room. She greeted Chloë happily and I introduced the two. Libena ran off to talk to dad or watch a movie or something. I continued talking with Chloë. She went home after a while and I was alone in my room. My cell-phone rang. I looked at it. No caller ID. I answered it any ways. There was a rasping voice, with rattling breathing. "Hello?" I answered. "Hero Emily Prentice..." The shaky mysterious voice was definitely male. "You have been chosen. Be at the entrance of the Empire State building by midnight... Bring no one else. Nor tell anyone else. Your destiny awaits you. There will be many other demigods and demigoddesses there. One male and one female from each cabin. Choose to come or not come." I was stunned by these words. My mouth hung open. "I must warn you, Miss Prentice. If you choose not to come, you'll suffer a fate worse than death. I should know. I was one of the last children of Hades. I got this same call. I didn't arrive at Olympus. I can't tell you you're fate if you don't come. I am forbidden. But Hero Prentice, your destiny awaits you." Chapter Four. Go ahead. Call me an idiot for sneaking out at midnight and going to The Empire State Building. When I got there, six half bloods stood there. I recognized two. Nico and Percy. I guess some others had hung up. Percy was shaking violently. Not because it was cold. In fear. He muttered to himself, "Seven half bloods will answer the call. To storm or fire, the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath. And foes bear arms to the doors of death." "What?" I asked him. "The second Great Prophecy. The one we're probably going to fulfil. Think about it. How many of us are here? Seven." I looked down. To storm or fire, the world must fall. That didn't sound too happy. A girl with medium length black hair and a silver tiara approached me. She wore a black T-shirt, black jeans, combat boots, and a leather jacket. She had freckles and blue eyes. "You are?" She asked. "Hero Prentice." I replied. "You?" "Thalia. You're Olympian is Athena?" "Yeah. Your's is... who?" "Zeus. I thought Annabeth would be here. I wonder if she got the call and didn't come..." "I'm not a guy!" I hissed. "Sorry. Never met a girl named Hero before." I glared playfully at Thalia. She introduced me to the other half-bloods here. Anastasia from the Hecate cabin, Kyle from Hepheastus, and Emily a daughter of Morpheus. One line down, three more to go. Each one of us had nothing in common, personality wise. Kyle was talkative, Nico was left out, Percy was a bit arrogant, Thalia was stubborn, Anastasia was creepy and mysterious, and Emily was kind. I was strategical. But we were all the same. We had all been called upon to watch the end unfold. Everyone in New York, all across the world, was living happily as the end unfolded. So. 2012 was going to come true. I guess this quest would take about three months. It was September 21 today. We all stood there. Suddenly, a distorted, no- mutilated man's corpse appeared in front of us. He wore tatter clothes and maggots shed off of him. His jaw was askew and hung to one side. His breathing was a faint rattle. His eyes were decayed so badly they looked like marshmallows. "I am Xavier. I was born the same year as her Grand Duchess, Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov. I was killed on my thirty-third birthday. I, just like young Mr. Di Angelo here, am a son of Hades. You have already gotten the quest's prophecy, am I right Mr. Jackson?" The rasping voice asked. Percy nodded confidently. "Yes, Xavier." "But do you accept the company you'll be keeping for the time it takes to complete the quest?" "Yes, Xavier." "Good. I see most of the twenty-six I summoned did not come. I will get my brother to deal with them." "You're brother is...?" Percy asked, probably absent-mindedly. "Vlaew. Or, I am supposed to call him a brother. He is a demon. He comes from one of the deepest pits of Tartarus. You demigods must never speak his name unless this befalls you. If you do... I will not scare anyone tonight. Now, I have said too much, as usual. I must go. Figure out the quest yourself." Xavier disappeared into dust. Chapter Five. We stood there, trying to process Xavier's words. Behind us, we heard snarling. I slowly turned my head to look. A hell hound, the creature that had almost taken my life a while ago, was baring it's teeth. I raised my sword. "Let me help." Anastasia said. She muttered some Greek and thrust her hand out at the monster. Suddenly, the hound was only about up to my head. "Hey, I will too!" Emily called. She flicked her hand, and the hound fell to the ground, causing it to shake. The big mutt was asleep. Percy walked up to it and stabbed it. "That was too easy." He hissed through clenched teeth. In the same time it takes you to blink, two men appeared in front of us. I blinked. One was fiery. Literally. His robes were mad of fire. His skin had a slight red tint to it. His eyes were red but not like blood red. More, fiery coals, red. His hair was fire as well, almost like an empousa, but male. The other man was weirder, if that was possible. His robes were made of storm clouds. His hair flashed with lightning and was made of rain. His eyes... They were flashing and dark. Like a storm. His skin had a very dark grey tint to it. A scowl marked both their faces. They glared at each other. I could sense some form of argument was about to happen. "Ugh, Fire, mortals hate being too hot!" The stormy one yelled. "Yes, but they also hate being wet." The fiery one contradicted. "Oh look, we're here." "Hello?" Thalia asked. "Who are they?" Kyle asked me, quietly. I shrugged. I had no clue. Nico walked up beside me and discreetly took my hand in his. I looked over at him, blushing. He smiled at me. "Welcome demigods and demigoddesses alike! We are the second part of your prophecy." Fire told us. "Yeah. I'm pretty much the personification of storm." Storm growled. "Fire. Now you all know the line. To storm or fire the world must fall. Don't worry about it. We don't have authorization to go through with that for another millennia. You just have to choose which one of us sticks around and destroys the mortal world!" "But don't worry." Storm grumbled. "The gods will be fine. Humanity will rebuild itself, I never understand the Fates." "Now make your decision!" "Huddle!" Percy called. We gathered in a big circle form. We weighed the pros and cons of each one. We knew we wouldn't be around for it, but we still wanted to be kind to the mortals. They had no idea... The poor things. "If we say fire," Nico pointed out. "It'll probably just be a Californian wildfire spreading around the world." "Yeah, but if we say storm, there'll be one humongous hurricane that obliterates the world. No fun. Mass flooding and chaos. Hail and snow and winds up to, I dunno, two thousand miles per... SECOND!" "No, I'm for fire!" After a heated debate, it was tied. I was to be the tiebreaker. I didn't know. I didn't want this to happen at all. I was indecisive and clueless. Nico was on one side along with Anastasia and Kyle, but Percy was on the other side with Thalia and Emily. I think I trusted Anastasia more than I did Emily or Thalia. "Fire." I declared. Thalia gaped at me. She cursed under her breath. Storm disappeared with even more of a scowl on his face. Fire kind of went up in flames and in his place lied a medallion. Slowly, Anastasia neared the medallion. She picked up the steaming thing. It was almost more of a necklace. It had a leather chain and a gleaming fire-red gem on a silver background. "Fire it is." Percy muttered. "Gods damned fire." Chapter Six. We decided it would be a good time to go home and hit the hay. I trudged home and crawled in one of the downstairs windows. I crept up to my room. I guessed my dad just got home from work because he was pouring himself a drink. I crawled into bed. Libena was awake, watching me. "Where'd you go?" She asked. "I was just downstairs, playing video games." I replied, fibbing my head off. "No, really. You suck at lying." "I can't tell you." "I thought we vowed to have no more secrets between each other!" "I can't tell you. Or... A really bad guy will hurt the both of us." "Yeah right! I'm not a baby any more, Hero! Why don't you treat me like an equal!" "You really want to know!? I'm part of the second Great Prophecy! Happy! And I'm probably going to die!" Libena was silent. She glared at me in the darkness. I fell asleep after a while of tossing and turning. I had one horrible dream. It was of Libena, a couple year later. She no longer looked childish or prepubescent. She was walking along the streets, sometime at night. It was rainy. She wore a brown hat over her blonde hair, which was golden and dark from rain. Libena stopped at the side of the road. There was a pile of Polaroid photographs lying in a neat bundle. They were wrapped neatly in a rubber band. She picked it up and immediately dropped them, as though they'd burned her hands. She ran. Quickly and far. My vision zoomed in on the pictures. It was a picture of a demonic image. At least that's what I thought it was because the picture was from a distance. Only one name came to mind. Vlaew. Libena was going to find a pile of photos that had terrible demonic pictures. I woke in cold sweat to see Libena wasn't in her bed. Chapter Seven. I got up and ran out of my room. Libena wasn't at the table. Julia was in the bathroom. I checked every room and every hiding spot in the entire house. I asked Andrea. She said Libena had gone over to a friend's house. Knowing that Libena wrote every night in her diary, I went to it. She kept it hidden in her pillowcase. Anger and sadness coursed through my veins. I opened the diary to see a drawing of the dream I'd had last night. I flipped the pages backwards, to the beginning of school. There was one thing about a friend. Her friend's name was Naomi Kulkovna. relieved, I dug up my newest copy of the phone book. There was only one family in Manhattan with that last name. No surprise there. I called them. A woman with a heavy Belarusian or Russian or Ukraine or some European accent answered. "Da?" The woman answered. Well. She's Russian. "Hello, Mrs Kulkovna?" I asked. "Yes, who is speaking?" "Hero Prentice. Is Libena Prentice, my younger sister there?" "Oh... Hero. Libena talks often of you. But I'm afraid the young girl is not here at the moment." "Thanks for the information. Did Naomi and Libena go somewhere together, like, the park?" "Well yes. They said they were going up to the corner store to get some candy." "Thank you, ma'am. Goodbye." I know it's rude to hang up on people before they say goodbye as well but I had to find Libena. I ran from the house, taking a moment to put on a black hoodie and brown cap. My feet gave the concrete a good pounding. My gait was frantic and hurried. I got to the corner store in okay time. Libena and Naomi sat on the curb together chatting. They had ice-cream cones in their hands. I sighed and caught my breath as I walked up to Libena. "Oh look. Its the b*tch queen." Libena muttered to her friend, quietly, trying to not let me hear. My heart skipped a beat. How dare she. Chapter Eight. "What was that, Libena Fiala Prentice?" I growled. "Nothing. I didn't say a thing." Libena gave me a look. "Fine. Why didn't you tell me? Write me a note of where you were?" "Because I knew you'd want to accompany me and I'm not a baby any more." I left her and her friend alone. My cell went off. No caller ID. It was probably Xavier again. He scared the living crap out of me but I knew it was fate. I picked it up. "Hero. Get to Olympus soon. More of the quest awaits you." A new mutilated voice rattled. I recognized it as Marcus from the Morpheus cabin. "I will, don't worry Marcus." I hang up. Frustrated, I walked to the Empire State Building. Everyone else was just arriving. Thalia was wearing a similar coloured outfit to Nico's. Dark. Nico noticed me and fell into step beside me. The only difference in him was his age appearance. He looked seventeen, not fifteen. He still had the same olive-toned skin, dark messy hair, and brown eyes. "Hey." He grabbed my hand. "Glad to see you." "You too." I murmured, leaning over and kissing his cheek. Nico smiled at me. We gathered at the base of the Empire State building. The mutilated form of a Hephaestus girl appeared, pointing to a close alley-way. We all filed into the alley. It wasn't cramped at all. We just stood, not knowing what to do. I snuggled in close to Nico. He kissed my head reassuringly. We waited. Finally, the heavily decayed form of an Aphrodite girl appeared. Her voice was a thick rattle, like globs of mucous and phlegm or blood was caught in her throat. Her once beautiful form was ugly now. I guess she already knew that though. Her eyes were the worst. Scarred and blistered. Her hair was torn at places and her scalp was seared and blistered and burnt. "Xavier Reyham rests in peace now." She murmured. "The third part of your quest is coming. Be prepared." We nodded. Out of nowhere, a throng of monsters appeared. We didn't have our weapons. Except Percy, Thalia, and Nico. Anastasia and Emily had their powers, along with the prepared people. Kyle and I would just have to hold our own. Everyone fought around us. Emily put monsters to sleep and Anastasia used magic to put them on our side, compensating for Kyle and I. Finally, Emily and Anastasia got tired. Good thing, there was only a small crowd of monsters around us now. I cowered as one came racing at me, fangs bared. It suddenly disintegrated. Libena stood behind it, her crossbow in her hands. She tossed me my sword and ran off. I helped with killing monsters. Percy was the only one of us uninjured. Nico, Anastasia, and Emily were all tired. Suddenly, Kampê and a few Telekhines came from nowhere. Percy's shoulder's slumped. "I never thought I'd see her again." He cursed. Kampê made noises like a rock tumbler. It was weird but scary at the same time. I stepped forward. Not remembering the oath, I was going to bargain. I know it sounds stupid especially when the thing you're bargaining with doesn't speak English. Or Greek. "If you take my life, you must leave my friend's alone." I tried to reason. "No!" Nico shouted. He tried to run for me, but everyone held him back. He was near tears. Kampê gave a look of liking. She raised on of her scimitars, about to kill me when Emily stepped in front. Before Kampê struck, she muttered, "You're oath with Libena." And was killed right before my eyes. Kampê and the Telekines disappeared. Nico ran up to me and embraced me tightly. I was too startled to do anything but weep. Chapter Nine. Nico hugged me tightly. The shock of the quest had gotten to me. Her kept muttering words of encouragement to me, trying to make me feel better about Emily. He always smiled at me. He was my Romeo. But one question nagged at me. Was I his Juliet? I gave him everything of mine. So far, except my v*r*i*ity. That was the one thing. Nico kissed my tears away and tried to soothe me. I could just weep. "Hey, hey. Shhh... Emily will find a better place to sleep tonight." Nico promised me. I gulped back a sob and fell asleep in his arms. When I awoke, Libena was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at me with a wide grin and sparkling grey eyes. Her hair was braided. "Hey Libena." I croaked. "Nico left ten seconds ago." Libena told me. "He really loves you, you know." "I know." "Good. You're lucky he likes you." "What? What happened? Did someone hurt you?" "There's this guy I like, he's really cute." Libena whispered. "His name is Jimmy. He... He's too good for me." "Oh, sweetie. You're probably too good for him." I punched her arm playfully. Libena nodded sadly. The next few weeks went by without any summoning from mutilated souls. It was my birthday on October first. I turned fourteen this year. My dad gave me a gift card to Garage and some make-up. Andrea gave me some more make-up and a dress. I was getting so many girly things, I was scared to open the next present from Julia. Thank the gods, it was a movie gift card. Mason gave me an iTunes gift card. Libena gave me a picture of Nico and I, just before the end of summer. He was holding me close. I remembered the memory and almost cried. Nico was probably getting beaten by Hades right now for sneaking out of the Underworld. He'd been summoned for more training for the entire school year. By next week, I was acting a bit different. More like a teenaged girl than a pre-teen any more. Libena was acting older now. She was more of a pre-teen than nine year old. She was starting to look older as well. Her hair was a bit darker and her eyes were more blue rather then grey. I looked like a teen. Long, gawky legs and a slim build. Libena still had some of her baby fat. Being the eldest in my family, I was supposed to do more chores and run more errands. But that's tough when you're a demigod. You tend to just kind of... blank and space out. Often. I was getting nervous as Halloween neared. We hadn't gotten any more bits of the quest. Nico came to hang out once in a while. He was still my favourite boyfriend and the only one I'd ever really had. One time, he told me to come into the backyard with him. It was late at night and everyone was asleep. He brought a sandwich and a can of Coke. He dug a hole and summoned the ghost of Xavier Reyham. He was really in his late twenties and quite good looking. He had cleanly cut tawny hair and blue eyes. His eyes were a pal blue. He told us of his parentage and asked us how our quest was going. We asked him to recall the pain of death but couldn't seem to remember being injured. He told us he was a child of Hermes. "Could you summon the ghost of my daughter, Gwen? She was cursed and killed. Will you check if the curse is lifted?" Xavier asked. "You had a daughter? Who was her mother?" I wondered aloud. "Her mother was my mortal wife, Elizabeth. She was British. Gwen had her hair." He got a faraway look in his eyes. "Will do, Mr. Reyham." Nico answered. We said goodbye and Xavier disappeared. Nico summoned Gwen. She was beautiful. Her orange hair hung to her back. Her eyes were the same as her father's. Her skin was pale and freckles were sprayed across her nose. She looked at us like we were ghosts. She couldn't have been more than ten years old. She wore an embroidered dress that went down past her ankles and pooled at her feet. She looked like she'd just stepped out from a Victorian picture. Her hair was curled. She wore a bit of lipstick. "Gwen Reyham?" I asked. "Yes, ma'am. How do you do?" She asked. "I'm well. Do you still bear a curse?" "No, madam. That left me after my father had to kill me because of it." Gwen promised us we'd speak again and disappeared. Nico looked pale. He collapsed in my arms. I laughed and woke him. I gave him a little bit of ambrosia. When I kissed him, his breath tasted of chocolate. That night was peaceful and nice. Nico and I slept together in my bed. Not that way. In a sleepover way. It was calming having him so near. Chapter Ten. Nico was gone when I awoke. I know he'd gone back to the Underworld. I frowned at the sun. It was almost mocking. I got out of bed and got dressed. It was a school morning. I walked to school. I was fifteen now. There were all these boys who were asking me out. Once, it was a guy who looked almost identical to Nico. I said yes, thinking it was Nico. Later, I realized he wasn't. I still went on the date. He was way more romantic. And now that I thought about it, better looking. His name was Nick. He grabbed my hand on the way back to his car. He spun me around, which was fun. My long shirt flew around me. He tipped me back, his lips an inch from mine. He grinned. He was so cute when he was mischievous. "You know, my favourite colour is red." Nick murmured, the fine hairs on his lips tickling mine. "Do you love it so much you want to marry it?" I teased. He shrugged and kissed me. Note this, it wasn't my idea. He was a way better kisser than Nico as well. Soon, we were making out in an alleyway. My lipstick was all over his face. He looked at me. His eyes weren't brown any more. They were really light brown, almost getting lighter. Almost red. Red eyes are normal. To an albino. I pulled back from kissing his cheek. His face twisted into an evil grin. I tried to get away. He held tight. I tried to struggle. I beat him with my purse, which was full of make-up and jewellery and stuff, by the way. "What in Hades' name are you?" I screamed. "A half-blood hunter. There are only seventeen in the world. There used to be one hundred exactly. We take on the forms of those you trust and kill you all slowly. Very slowly. And you should be going into paralysis any time now, just from kissing me." Nick sneered. I started to run but slowly, my knees buckled and I doubled over. On the ground, in a public area. My mouth wasn't working. I tried to crawl somewhere. One man, a bit older than Nick, actually, a lot older, appeared from the shadows. He wore a black hat and trench coat. If I were a mortal, I would be pretty suspicious. He had blood red eyes and a spear slung across his back. It was dripping with fresh, gleaming blood. The blood of a demigod. He turned and grinned at Nick. "Good work, Crimson." His voice was deep and ancient. "This one will be perfect." I turned to look up. I winced as the wind blew and cooled me. Nick- Crimson- bowed deeply. "Thank you my liege. I will try to get one of the Big Three children next time." "Crimson, think. There are what, a thousand demigods? There are three children of The Big Three, one for each. What are you're chances? One in one thousand and three. Not good odds, boy." "Apologies, my liege." Nick bowed even deeper. I made a soft moaning noise in my throat. They looked down at me. Nick gave me an apologetic look. I tried to glare. The other guy took his spear off his back. He ran it down my arm. Blood surged out. I made the noise again, this time louder and more whiny. Nico all of a sudden landed next to me, not paralysed. He had Shadow Travelled here. I was on the ground, bleeding. Nico looked around, confused. Athena had brought him to my side. All went black. When I awoke for the second time in the day, Nico leaned over me, scowling. He handed me a glass of Nectar. I drank some. He glared at me and shunned me. I tried to reason. The only thing he said, even after fifteen minutes was, "Wh*re." "How am I a wh*re?" I demanded. "You cheated on me." Nico snapped. "He was trying to kill me!" "Why were you wearing make-up?!" "I was out with some friends ten minutes before." "Why did he have your colour lipstick on him?" "Coincidence." "Half bloods don't have coincidences." I glared at him. "Are you going to interrogate me all day, or can I pretend to be normal for some time." "While you were asleep we got summoned for part four of the quest. We weren't really requested. I saw some guys with weapons trying to get into my father's palace." I frowned. I looked at my armour hiding in my closet. Libena walked in. She had a new stuffed animal in her hands. She hugged it tightly. I looked at her and hugged her tightly. She hugged me back and wished me luck. And so, we went off to battle. Chapter Eleven. Greek battle armour is uncomfortable. Seriously. You can't itch your back. I was trying to scratch at it as soon as we got assembled. Everyone was here, except Emily. Her shroud burning was next week. Some family thing, I guess. Anastasia looked like she'd been crying. Percy was fine. Everyone else looked wary. We entered the Underworld. Finally, we got to the palace of Hades. There were evil demigods and monsters with weapons. We advanced, watching them trying to tear down Hades's doors. I stabbed one in the back, making it disintegrate. We fought for a long time. Anastasia and Kyle cried out in pain at the same time. I turned to look and saw that Kyle had been trying to protect Anastasia from an enemy sword. They'd both been stabbed though, through and through. Kyle turned to Anastasia. They both knew they were going to die. They kissed. A tear quivered down Anastasia`s cheek. In a minute, they were both fallen. Our numbers were falling. By the end, Percy had the last monster covered. It disintegrated and he walked over to us, sweating. Thalia was limping. She`d been stabbed in the leg. Percy demanded to check it out. Thalia gave in and let him. He rolled up her pants. There was a deep cut, bleeding a little now. It was surrounded in a ring of pale light green. Poisoned. Thalia coughed and fainted. Percy asked Nico to get Mrs. O`Leary, the hellhound. Thalia was wounded and needed to get back to camp. Mrs. O`Leary took us to camp. Thalia was sweating and conscious when we got there. We`d taken off her armour. An Apollo kid looked at it and shook her head. It wasn`t treatable. Thalia trembled. She cried. Her only wish that she kept muttering was to see Luke again, to be in Elysium with him. She loved him. Soon, her hand went slack in Percy`s. He looked at her, sad. We all were. There were only three of us left. Chiron came in. "Are there any other casualties?" He asked. "Yes." I spoke up. "Kyle, Anastasia, and Emily." Chiron nodded and went to give orders for more shrouds. We sat there in the medical room. We knew it wasn't as bad as the first Great Prophecies deaths. Only three. But still, seeing Thalia lying there dead was depressing. We were all sharing a moment of silence when Zeus burst in. He was wearing a suit as always but his beard was trimmed. Actually, shaved. It was weird. He stood next to us. We stood. "Who? Who killed my daughter?" He demanded. "We're not sure, Lord Zeus, but whoever it was is dead." Nico told him. Zeus nodded slowly. "Thank you. May I... May I have some time to say goodbye?" We let him and left. I gripped to Nico, who's face was void of emotion. He dealt with death a lot. It was in his family. He was the only demigod of Hades alive. Unless he'd already impregnated some mortals. He'd dealt with the death of his sister and his mother. He was a pretty depressed kid when you thought about it. He'd just watched his cousin die. I didn't know where he found the strength. "I love you." I murmured. Nico smiled faintly. "I love you too." With that, I smiled and snuggled in to his chest. It had been a long day and I fell asleep as soon as I got to my cabin. No nightmares or dreams haunted me that night. Nothing. Chapter Twelve. In the morning, the sun shone through the windows, making an eerie shadow on everything. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. Libena was in the bunk above me. She had her hair in a braid. She loved doing it so her hair didn't need brushing in the morning and so it was curly. She didn't trust my curling iron. Nico knocked on the Athena cabin door. I yelled at him not to come in. "I'm not out of ratty old pyjamas!" I squealed. He came in any ways. "Whatever you're wearing, you're beautiful in my mind." He smiled and kissed me. I kissed him back and playfully pouted at him afterwards. I changed in my sleeping bag, readying for a day of training after the Quest. I stabbed and jabbed with my weapon. I was deep in concentration when I heard Nico call me. He told me it was time for lunch. I was embarrassed but followed him. Lunch was good as usual. Afterwards I roamed camp, looking for something interesting. I was lost in thought. I was older now, much. Older than I was a few years ago. Mentally and appearance. That night Nico met me in my cabin. In the morning I awoke next to him. He was asleep peacefully. I tried to get more sleep, seeing as it was three AM. The next day, I informed Chiron that I would be taking Libena home. He understood and gave permission. We were finally home. Finally. And for once, now monsters attacked throughout the year. Category:Thinkaboutthisname